Environment Minister Stephane Dion admitted the government is falling short in their Kyoto commitments but vowed not to give up as he spoke during the first day of the United Nations Conference for Climate Change (UNCCC) in Montreal on Monday.

"Canada is indeed far behind but Canada is not giving up," Dion said.

Many are worried that the political instability in Ottawa will distract from the importance of the conference.

"I have a responsibility for this conference that is key for the planet. Period," Dion said.

Dion's comments come as the federal government released a discussion draft today of proposed regulations to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

The draft is aimed at large industrial facilities -- identifying ways to reduce emissions across the board and within specific business sectors.

"In order to preserve and protect our environment from the effect of greenhouse gases and air pollutants, the Government of Canada is working hand-in-hand with province, territories, the industry sector, other stakeholders, and all Canadians," Dion said in a press release Monday.

Oil and gas, thermal electricity, mining and manufacturing sectors, known as Large Final Emitters (LFEs), are expected to achieve a 45 megatonne reduction between 2008 and 2012.

Thousands of environmentalists and government officials from around the world arrived for the first United Nations climate conference since the Kyoto agreement came into force in February.

"Certainly Canada needs to do more to meet its Kyoto targets," World Wildlife Foundation's Jennifer Lee Morgan told CTV news. "It says it's committed to Kyoto and I will stand on their commitment to that."

Over the next 10 days, delegates will brainstorm on how to slow the effects of greenhouses gases and global warming.

The delegates will also witness the likely collapse of Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority Liberal government in a vote of non-confidence today -- a nightmarish turn of events for Dion.

The UNCCC, with some 10,000 participants from 180 nations, is considered the most important gathering on climate change since 140 nations ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.

Agreement

That landmark agreement, negotiated in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto, targets carbon dioxide and five other gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, and are believed to be behind rising global temperatures that many scientists say are disrupting weather patterns.

The treaty calls on industrialized nations to dramatically cut their gas emissions between 2008 and 2012.

Talks will also focus on what further action to take after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires, although most signatories are already falling far short of their targets.

As host government, Canada is trying to find a formula which would enable the U.S., other industrialized countries and the developing nations to unite under a combined statement on future action.

But on the eve of the talks, the U.S. chief negotiator Harlan Watson told the BBC he would strongly resist Canada's proposal.

He said it was premature to make any further commitments under the UN climate change convention.

His comments come as the president of the UK's Royal Society, Lord May, called for a new urgency in strengthening action on global warming.

He told the BBC the consequences invited comparisons with weapons of mass destruction.

Meanwhile the European Union appears to be taking the lead, endorsing a plan in June to bring emissions of greenhouses gases down 15 percent to 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

The Kyoto accord was delayed by the requirement that countries accounting for 55 per cent of the world's emissions must ratify it. That goal was finally reached, nearly seven years after the pact was negotiated, with Russia's approval last year.

The United States, the world's largest emitter of such gases, has refused to ratify the agreement, saying it would harm the U.S. economy and is flawed by the lack of restrictions on emissions by emerging economies such as China and India.

Because of its refusal to ratify the treaty, the U.S. will take no formal part in discussions, but the Americans do have a place at the table because they are participants in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the broader agreement which gave rise to the legally binding protocol.

New research

The conference comes amid new research showing there is now more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -- a major contributor to greenhouse gases -- than at any point in the last 650,000 years.

The study by the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica, published earlier this month in the journal Science, analyzed tiny air bubbles preserved in Antarctic ice for millennia.

Meanwhile, Earth's average temperature has increased about 1 degree Fahrenheit in recent decades, a relatively rapid rise.

Many climate specialists warn that continued warming could have severe effects, such as rising sea levels and changing rainfall patterns, variations already devastating ancient communities and wildlife, such as the Inuit and polar bears of northeastern Canada.